(CT) Cab driver charged after killing violent robber 03-04-05
Date: Mar 6, 2005 8:28 AM
<http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=3028404>;

March 4, 2005
Cab driver charged after killing in self defense

NEW HAVEN– A cab driver who says he had to kill a customer to save his
own life is speaking out.

John Lutters says he is the victim after he was stabbed in the neck
during a robbery attempt and fought back.

Lutters is now a convicted felon, having to plead guilty to charges in
court. Lutters did not have a permit to carry the gun he used to shoot
his passenger, Travis Hazelwood, in self defense.

“It*s cost me everything I*ve had just about, including a criminal
record”, says Lutters.

Police charged him with illegal possession of a gun. But Lutter*s
attorney argued that under Connecticut state law, you don*t need a gun
permit if you keep it in your home or your place of business.

“If the cab is not his place of business than what is”, says attorney
Robert Berke.

The state supreme court decided in 2004 that taxi cabs can*t be
considered places of business. As a result, Lutters pleaded guilty to
the weapons charge.

“How many cab drivers have to die before the state does something to
protect them, what*s it going to take”?